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My Musings – Give

Who are you?

What makes you come alive?

How will you serve that?

This time of your always makes me more introspective. I’ve been asking lots of questions lately – of my friends, my mentors, my community, my dogs, my God, but most mostly of myself. These three questions are the ones I keep coming back to. The answers may change, evolve, transform. Who Am I? I used to see myself as a trouble-maker. Over time, trouble-maker evolved into rebel; rebel evolved into change-maker. Who we are can change depending on what lens we are looking through. The lens of our family, a peer group, a local community, or society at large. Sometimes the most distorted lens is the one that we use to view ourselves with – our inner critic lens. After working with Elizabeth Gilbert last month, I have realized that my inner critic is really just a side gig that my fear takes on when it isn’t busy keeping me safe from real harm. I respect the efforts that my fear goes to in order to keep me safe from car accidents, rattle snakes, bad cheese, etc. But I also recognize the ways my fear tries to keep me safe from perceived harms like humiliation, failure, disappointment. Fear tries to keep me safe by keeping me small; it whispers in my ear, “you shouldn’t be seen or heard.” It tries to keep me from raising my hand, standing up, speaking out, showing the world who I really am. While I am not a huge fan of humiliation, failure, or setbacks, I have come to a point in my life where I realize that staying small comes with its own set of problems. I’ve also come to realize that playing small is an incredibly selfish act; it denies the world of our greatest potential. We get one chance to give it all we’ve got; why hold back? The world needs us, each and every one of us, to realize what makes us come alive and go and do that. You’ve probably all heard the Howard Thurman quote:

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs;

Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go and do that,

Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.

That quote is my personal touchstone. I come back to it again and again as a reminder that the world needs me to discover who I am, what makes me come alive, and how I can serve that. I really do believe that is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves, to our family and friends, to our community, and to our world. So here is my suggestion for this season of giving – give of yourself. The world needs more you. This is not an invitation to beat yourself up for not being more, doing more, serving more. Quite the contrary, this is an invitation to stop and reflect on these questions so that you can show up in a more present, self-aware, authentic way.

If you need some inspiration, please take a moment to meet some of the muses featured this month, including yoga-activist Seane Corn who discusses coming alive through yoga:

“I would imagine it’s like a painter being frustrated because they can’t capture a sunset, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, the color comes and becomes alive.

That’s how it felt for me. Everything came alive; the colors were just available to me and I didn’t even know that the colors had been missing.”

We also spoke with a human rights defender from Honduras, a young mother and activist from Uganda, a filmmaker who tells the story of a group of radical feminist nuns, and others. Later this month, I have a date to muse with Gloria Steinem. I look forward to asking her these same questions. All of these women have graciously shared the gift of their most authentic selves with us. They have shared their passions, their fears, their work, and their dreams. We are all the better for these gifts. The world is better for these gifts. Self-discovery may not be the answer to all of the crisis facing our world – from gun violence to social injustice to environmental degradation – but I do believe it is a good place to start. Who are you? Answer that question, but don’t stop there. What makes you come alive? Answer that and keep asking. How will you serve that? These three questions can lead you to discover how you can best serve the world. We each have our gifts, from mothering to teaching to story-telling to community organizing. The world needs all of these gifts.

Who are you?

What makes you come alive?

How will you serve that?

Tis the Season….Give the Gift of You.

xo, Amanda

About Muse

Muse is a source of inspiration, a heartbeat, a movement, a call to action, a question, an answer, support, celebration, nourishment, a standing ovation, a sense of wonder, a platform, an invitation, a conversation, a voice…your voice, our collective voice.